americans really know about religion? >> we're a nation of religious illiterates. >>reporter:stephenprotherois a professor of religion at boston university. >> we have a lot of people who love jesus but don't know much about him. we have a lot of people who believe and hope that the bible is the word of god but they don't really bother to read it. >> reporter: and it shows. on average, americans correctly answered 16 of 32 religious knowledge survey questions. >> the three groups that come out on top in this survey are atheists and agnostics, jews along with mormons. >> reporter: at the bottom? >> mainline protestants, catholics and those who describe their religion as just nothing in particular. >> reporter: here's some of the results from the survey. when asked the dalai lama's religion... >> hindu? >> i'm going to say hindu. >> some sort of middle eastern religion. >> reporter: fewer than half of americans correctly answered that the dalai lama is... >> buddhist. >> reporter: name of the first book of the bible. >> i don't know. >> reporter: more than a third of americans don't

stephencolberthave announced dueling political rallies near the washington monument the weekend before election day. >> a million moderate march! where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says we are here! we're only here, though, until 6:00 because we have a sitter! >> couric: stewart calls his event "the rally to restore sanity." colbert's is called "the march to keep fear alive." now back in the '70s there were 19 soap operas on t.v. come monday, there will be just six. >> and now for the next 30 minutes, "as the world turns." >> couric: the first half hour soap began on cbs in 1956 with actress helen wagner saying "good morning, dear." today after 13,858 episodes, "as the world turns" ended its amazing run. >> good night. >> couric: wagner, by the way, earned a place in the guinness record book for playing the same character for 54 years. ,, aware of... a year ago... next >> couric: finally tonight, people are endlessly fascinated by records and achievements-- the stranger the better. so to want jim axelrod raises a glass to the lates

, thanks so much for that report. in other news, congress provides plenty of materialforstephencolbert.today he returned the favor testifying before a house subcommittee in character as a faux commentator. not the strangest thing that's ever happened on capitol hill, but close. congressional correspondent nancy cordes was there. >> reporter: with stephen colbert at the witness table, this congressional hearing felt more like open mic night. >> i certainly hope that my star power can bump this hearing all the way up to c-span 1. >> reporter: the fake conservative t.v. host was invited to testify about the plight of migrant farm workers after he accepted a challenge on his show. >> i'll do it. >> reporter: to spend a day packing corn or picking beans. >> are there any beans in the shade? when you're picking beans you have to spend all day bending over, it turns out-- and i did not know this-- most soil is at ground level. if we can put a man on the moon, why can't we make the earth waist high? >> does one day in the field make you an expert witness? >> i believe one day of me studying a